The card payment disaster has apparently come to an end. More and more retailers are reporting that they can accept credit cards and debit cards again. FOCUS Online says where there are still problems and what customers need to know.
Thousands of card payment devices failed in Germany ten days ago.
Models of the card reader type H-5000 from Verifone were affected. Several supermarkets, discounters and drugstore branches could not accept Girocard, Maestro, Visa, Mastercard, VPay and American Express cards. Only cash payment was possible.
FOCUS Online learned: Despite the software update, there are still problems with the Verifone H-5000 card readers. The German trade association announced on behalf of its members that it now wants to examine the incident. This could also lead to claims for damages. The fashion industry in particular speaks of double-digit sales losses. Customers who do not have cash with them leave their purchases where they are.
Payment providers and intermediaries of card readers have been advising their customers to replace the H-5000 device since the beginning of the checkout crisis. In some cases, the affected retail chains are switching to the direct debit-based payment method. The problem: technicians have to move out and move the devices accordingly.
If the devices have been switched over, customers can pay by card in this case, but they must agree by signing that the retailer may withhold the money from the account. After all, customers can use it to pay with all common Maestro and Giro cards (formerly EC).
According to information from FOCUS Online, the H-5000 devices should be gradually replaced in the coming year. This procedure is now accelerated. The H-5000 type is one of the three most used devices in German retail and also in the catering trade.
Retailers continue to struggle with the card payment outage. Although Verifone has rolled out an update, the devices must be prepared accordingly. As long as the update has not been deployed, customers will in most cases not be able to pay by card.
Aldi Nord and the discount chain Netto Marken-Discount reacted first to the failures. Both companies exchanged the faulty devices. Edeka, Kaufland and dm branches followed.
“We switched our system to the electronic direct debit procedure at short notice, so that our customers have been able to pay with their girocard and signature again in the past few days,” said Martin Dallmeier, dm Managing Director and responsible for the Finance Controlling department.
There were hardly any problems at Aldi Süd, Lidl, Penny or Rewe. The dealers do not use the H-5000 devices there at all.
A hacker attack can be ruled out.
Shortly after the failure, Verifone said that there was a complex software error that was causing problems. Since then, there has been speculation in the retail industry as to whether a faulty update that was planned for the Asian market may have caused the error. Verifone did not want to confirm these speculations.
Verifone in Germany did not want to answer several press inquiries from FOCUS Online.
Keep taking cash with you when you go shopping. ATMs are not affected by the outage. Do you have several cards: Use Maestro and Girocard primarily, these cards seem to work for the most part due to the changeover.
FOCUS Online advises: At Aldi Süd, Lidl, Rewe and Penny you can withdraw up to 200 euros from your bank account free of charge. This is helpful if you want to go to the hairdresser afterwards and cannot pay by card there.
Ideally, take as much cash with you as you calculate for the purchase.
So you can take all the important groceries, drinks and drugstore items from your weekly shopping with you. Find out in good time whether card payments are possible in the branch. Look out for notices at the entrance and notices in the branch.
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